Journalist Poppy Denby is back in her fourth book in the popular Poppy Denby Investigates Series by Fiona Veitch Smith.

Poppy is invited to attend the auction of Egyptian Nefertiti’s Death Mask at Winterton Hall owned by Sir James Maddox and his wife Lady Ursula. There are representatives from museums around the world attending, plus Egyptologists and members of the press.

The Egyptian representatives believe the mask should be theirs and that it was stolen many years ago, but their voices are overlooked and the auction is to go ahead. However, on the day of the uncovering of the Mask one of the party dies. It is assumed they died of natural causes but of course, Poppy is not so sure and begins to investigate. She seems to be never alone though as a man in a trench coat and deer-stalker hat starts stalking her.

This is the third book in the Poppy Denby series that I have read, I missed book three. I have always adored Poppy, she is a woman in the early part of the 20th century who is single and working in what was classed as a ‘man’ job. She is tough and won’t be pushed around by anyone. Not surprising really as she is related to one of the suffragettes.

It was nice to also see some familiar characters as well as a few new ones too. The book opens back in 1914 in El-Amarna, Egypt with the discovery of the Death Mask and some gruesome events. We then move on to 1921 and London when the mask is coming up for auction. I found that the first chapter was engaging and full on, then it slowed down for a while until the party ascends on Winterton Hall.

There are some famous names amongst the guests including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harold Carter to name a couple. It was nice to mix fact with fiction. Ms. Smith has also included information at the back of the book for further reading on any of the subjects covered, plus there are book club questions too.

Overall The Cairo Brief is another great story to add to an already perfect series. I hope that Ms. Smith carries this series on for a long time to come. Now I just need to go back and read book three.

About the Author

Formerly a journalist, Fiona Veitch Smith is a writer of books, theatre plays and screenplays.

Her children’s picture books, the Young David series, are now published by SPCK Publishing. Her adult mystery series set in the 1920s, Poppy Denby Investigates, is published by Lion Fiction. The first four book in the series are available now.

She lives with her husband, daughter and two dogs in Newcastle upon Tyne where she lectures in media and scriptwriting at the local universities. She loves gardening, eating cheesecake, practising Pilates and playing jazz clarinet – not all at the same time.